Door latch mechanisms



Sept. 2l, 1965 J. w. NEUFELD 3,207,542

DooR LATCH MECHANIsMs Filed June 11, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 f/ JW M25/12%ATTOR YSi Sept. 21, 1965 J. w. NE'UFELD 3,207,542

DOOR LATCH MEGHANISMS Filed June 11, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Sept. 2l, 1965 J. w. NEUFELD DOOR LATCH MECHANISMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed June 11, 1965 ATTOR" AYs United States Patent 3,207,542 DOOR LATCHMECHANISMS .lohn W. Neufeld, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, assgnor toMassey-Ferguson Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,

a corporation of Canada Filed June 11, 1963, Ser. No. 287,009 Claimspriority, application Canada, June 13, 1962, 851,405 15 Claims. (Cl.292-26) This invention relates to a door latch mechanism for a hingeabledoor such as a cabinet or locker door, and has for one of its objectsthe provision of a simple and relatively inexpensive means for latchingand unlatching such doors with relatively few working parts.

Furthermore, it is another object of the invention to provide a handlefor such a door which will serve as a buffer means should the door beung violently open and contact the door of an adjacent locker in a rowof such lockers as usually found in the locker room of a gymnasium or ina golf club.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a door latchmechanism for a hingeable door of the type having a front face, a rearface and a cooperating door jamb, such latch mechanism comprising apivotable handle associated with the front face of the door, at leastone pivotable latch associated with the door jamb and having asubstantially hook-shaped forward end projecting beyond the jamb, atleast a first latch aperture in the door and located adjacent the rearface thereof, a vertically slidable lock bar mounted adjacent the rearface of the door and substantially in alignment with the jamb when thedoor is in its closed and latched position, at least a second latchaperture in the lock bar normally in alignment with the first latchaperture and cooperating therewith and, with the latter, being adaptedto contain the forward end of the latch member when the door is in itsclosed position, and linkage means, connected to the handle and to thelock bar, located adjacent the rear face of the door, and adapted, whenthe door is in its closed and latched position, and when the handle ispivoted, to raise the lock bar whereby the lower confines of the secondlatch aperture engages the underside of the forward end of the latch andraises the latter to permit the bar to be disengaged from the latch,

The invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a storage locker with the door thereofin an open unlatched position, and illustrates a preferred embodiment ofthe door latch mechanism of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view, partly in sectionand partly broken away to illustrate certain details, of one side wallof the storage locker of FIGURE l including one of the latch membersassociated therewith in cooperable latching engagement with the door inthe closed and latched position of the latter;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the rear or inner face ofthe door of the storage locker, and illustrates the actuating mechanismfor the door latch mechamsm;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the front or outer face ofthe door of the storage locker of FIGURE 1, and also illustrates theactuating mechanism for the door latch mechanism;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken generally in the horizontal plane ofan actuating member of the actuating mechanism illustrated in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a schematic top plan view of a plurality of the storagelockers of FIGURE 1 arranged in side-byside relation, and illustratesthe manner in which the door handles of adjacent lockers cooperate toform a buffer be- ICC tween such doors as upon opening of one of suchdoors; and

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken verticallythrough the door handles illustrated in FIGURE 6 to show the manner inwhich they engage t0 act as a buifer as aforesaid.

Referring to the drawings, a storage locker or cabinet shown in FIGURE lis provided with a door, indicated generally at 1, hingeably mounted tothe main body of the locker at 2, said door including a pair of spacedfront and rear face panels 3, 4. The end of the door remote from thehingeable mountings 2 forms a guideway 5 adapted to locate a verticallyslidable lock bar 6 therein, said bar being provided with a plurality ofspaced apertures 7 therein, one for each latch, as will be describedhereinafter. The guideway 5 is also provided with a correspondingplurality of vertically spaced apertures 8. Pivotally mounted at 9 onthe inner face of one end panel 10 of the locker are a plurality ofvertically spaced latches 11, each of which has its forward hooked end11 projecting through an associated aperture 12 in the door jamb 13.

Mounted on the inner face of the front panel 3 of the door, fasttherewith and in registry with a rectangular opening in said panel, is arectangular box or recess, indicated generally at 14, the rear wall 15of said box being provided with a pair of arcuate slots 16, 17 eachconcentric with a pivot point 18, said slot 16 being of slightly greaterlength than the slot 17. Projecting through the upper end of the slot 16and secured to the rear wall 15 is a lock bracket 19 of U-shapedcross-section having a pair of spaced interconnected arms 20.

Projecting from the front of the face 15 and located within the box 14,is a handle 21, preferably covered in vinyl plastic, the ends of thehandle passing through the rear wall 15 of the box and extendingtherefrom. The ends of the handle 21 are adapted to pass through a lockbar actuating member indicated generally at 22, and are secured to thelatter by means of nuts 23, one said end of the handle 21 forming thepivot point 18. The greater portion of the length of the latch baractuating member 22 is located on the outside of the rear panel 4 of thedoor 1 and spacer washers 24 are provided between the rear panel 4 andthe latch bar actuating member 22, said washers being disposed aboutsaid ends of the handle member 21.

One end 25 of the latch bar actuating member 22 is bent at right anglesto the main body of the latter and is adapted to project through anaperture 25 formed in the rear panel 4 of the door and through the slot16, both said end 25 and pair of arms 20 of the lock bracket 19 beingprovided with an aperture, said apertures being in alignment with oneanother for the reception of the hasp of a padlock (not shown).

The other end 26 of the main body of the latch bar actuating member 22is bent slightly out of the plane of said main body and extends towardsthe junction of the rear panel 4 of the door with the latch bar 6 and islocated immediately beneath a rubber bumper 27 fast on a bracket 28secured at 29 to said latch bar 6.

The operation of the door latch mechanism is such, assuming that thedoor is in closed and locked position, that the operator unlocks thepadlock and withdraws the hasp from engagement with the correspondinghasp-receiving apertures in arms 20 of the lock bracket 19 as well asthe said one end 25 of the latch bar actuating member 22, therebyfreeing the latter for movement with respect to said lock bracket 19.The operator then grasps the handle 21 and pulls downwardly therebycausing the righthand end (as viewed vin FIGURE 4) of said handle tomove downwardly in the slot 17, and causing said handle and said latchbar actuating member 22 to pivot about point 18. The right-hand end (asviewed in FIGURE 3) of said member Z2 thus moves upwardly and, throughthe interconnections 27, 28 and 29, causes the latch bar 6 to slideupwardly with respect to its guideway 5.

The bottom of each aperture 7 in the latch bar 6 accordingly contactsthe angled underface of its associated latch 11 and causes the latter topivot about its pivot point 9 until each said l-atch 11 assumes theposition shown in phantom line in FIGURE 2. In this position, and aswill be seen from FIGURE 2, the lowermost extremity of the hook-shapedportion 11 of each latch 11 will have been raised a sufiicient amoun-tto clear the bottom of the associated aperture 8 in the guideway 5 aswell as the bottom of the associated or cooperating aperture 12 formedin the door jamb, thereby permitting the door 1 to be fully opened.

As will be seen from reference to FIGURE 7, the vertical plane of thehandle 21 is arranged so as to be at a slight angle to the Verticalplane of rear wall 15 of the box 14 as well as to the vertical plane ofthe door so that the lower portion of said handle projects outwardlyfrom the rear wall 15 of the box 14 and slightly from the front panel 3of the door. Thus, when a Vd-oor of a one of a pair of adjacent cabinetsis swung fully open, its handle will abut the handle of the adjacentclosed door, thereby preventing damage to the front panels at eitherpair of doors.

I claim:

1. A latch mechanism for a cabinet door hinged for movement toward and-away from a cooperating fixed door jamb on the cabinet, said latchmechanism comprising a hook-shaped latch pivotally mounted on thecabinet and including a portion projecting beyond said jamb and havingan inclined surface, means defin-ing a first aperture on said door tolatchingly engage said latch with said door closed against said jamb, alock bar vertically slidably mounted on said door, means defining asecond aperture on said lock .bar to receive said portion of -said latchwith said door closed against said jamb, and actuating means f mountedon said door and controlling vertical movement of said lock bar, saidactuating means being operable with said door closed and latched againstsaid jamb to lift said lock bar, whereby said second aperture engagessaid inclined surface and pivots said latch out of latching engagementwith said first aperture.

2. A latch mechanism for a cabinet door hinged for movement toward andaway from a cooperating fixed door jamb on the cabinet, said latchmechanism comprising a hook-shaped latch pivotally mounted on thecabinet and including a portion projecting in front of and beyond saidjamb and having an inclined surface, means defining a first aperture onsaid door to latchingly engage said latch with said door closed againstsaid ja-mb, a =lockbar vertically slidably mounted on said door, meansdefining a second aperture on said lock bar to receive said portion ofsaid latch with said door closed against said jamb, and actuating meansmounted on said door and controlling vertical movement of said lock bar,said actuating means being operable with said door closed and latchedagainst said jamb to lift said lock bar, whereby said second apertureengages said inclined surface of said latch to pivot the latter out oflatching engagement with said first aperture.

3. A latch mechanism according to claim 2 wherein said actuating meanscomprises a handle including a pair of spaced legs, means pivotallymounting one of said legs on said door for pivotal movement of saidhandle thereon, an actuating link engageable with said lock .bar tocontrol vert-ical movement thereof, and means connecting said link tosaid respective legs of said handle for pivotal movement in unison withthe latter.

4. A latch mechanism according to claim 3 wherein said door includesfront and rear faces, said link being mounted adjacent said rear face,said front face including means defining a recess therein, and saidhandle being mounted within said recess.

5. A latch mechanism according to claim 3 wherein said door includesfront and rear faces, said actuating link being mounted adjacent saidrear face, said front face including means defining a recess therein,and -said handle bein-g mounted within said recess and further includinga handle bar interconnecting said spaced legs thereof and projectingfrom said recess just forward of a Vertical plane containing said frontface of said door.

6. A latch mechanism according to cl-aim 2 wherein said actuating meanscomprises a handle including a pair of spaced legs, means pivotallymounting one of said legs on said door for pivotal movement of saidhandle thereon, an arcuate slot in saidA door receiving the other ofsaid legs and having a center of curvature substantially coincident withthe pivot 4axis of said one of said legs, and an actuating link havingspaced portions intermediate the ends thereof mounted on said respectivelegs of said handle for pivotal movement in unison with the latter, oneend of said link being engageable with said lock bar to control verticalmovement thereof.

7. A latch mechanism according to claim 6 further comprising a secondarcuate slot in said door receiving the other end of said link an-dhaving a center of curvature substantially coincident with thepivot axisof said one of said legs lof said handle, and cooperating means on saiddoor adjacent said sec-ond aperture and said other end of said link toreceive the hasp of .a padlock to lock said a-ctuat-ing means -in alatch-engaging position.

8. A latch mechanism for a cabinet door hinged for movement toward andaway from a cooperating fixed door jamb on the cabinet, said latchmechanism comprising a plurality of vertically spaced hook-shapedlatches pivotally mounted on the cabinet and respectively includingforward end portions thereof projecting in front of said jamb and havinginclined surfaces, means defining a plurality of vertically spaced firstapertures on said door in substantial horizontal alignment withrespective ones of said latches to receive and latchingly engage thelatter with said door closed against said jamb, a lock bar verticallyslidably mounted on said door, means defining a plurality of verticallyspaced second apertures on said lock bar in substantial horizontalalignment with respective ones of said first apertures and said latchesto receive said forward end portions of the latter with said door closedagainst said jamb, and actuating means pivotally mounted on said doorand controlling vertical movement of said lock bar, said actuating meansbeing operable with said door closed and latched against said jamb tolift said lock bar, whereby said second apertures respectively engagesaid inclined portions of said latches to pivot the latter out oflatching engagement with said first apertures.

9. A latch mechanism according to claim 8 wherein said actuating meanscomprises a generally U-shaped handle including a pair of spaced legsone end of each thereof being joinedby a handle bar, means pivotallymounting the other end of onev of said legs on said door for pivotalmovement of said handle thereon, and an actuating link having spacedportions intermediate the ends thereof mounted on said other ends ofsaid respective legs of said handle for pivotal movement in unison withthe latter, one end of said link being engageable with said lock bar tocontrol vertical movement thereof.

10. A latch mechanism according to claim 9 wherein said door includesfront and rear faces, said actuating link being mounted adjacent saidrear face, said front face including means defining a recess therein,said handle being mounted within said recess with said handle barthereof projecting therefrom just forward of a vertical plane containingsaid front face of said door.

11. A latch mechanism according to claim 8 wherein said actuating meanscomprises a generally U-shaped handle and including a pair of spacedlegs one end of each thereof being joined by a handle bar, meanspivotally mounting the other end of one of said legs on said door forpivotal movement of said handle thereon, a first arcuate slot in saiddoor receiving the other. end of the other of said legs and having acenter of curvature substantially coincident with the pivot axis of saidone of said legs, an actuating link having spaced portions intermediatethe ends thereof being mounted on said other ends of said respectivelegs of said handle for pivotal movement in unison with the latter, oneend of said link being engageable with said lock bar to control verticalmovement thereof, a second arcuate slot in said door receiving the otherend of said link and having a center of curvature substantiallycoincident with the pivot axis of said one of said legs of said handle,and cooperating means on said door adjacent said second aperture andsaid other end `of said link to receive the hasp of a padlock to lock-said actuating means in a latch-engaging position. 12. In a door latchmechanism for a hingeable cabinet door, said door having a front face, arear face and a cooperating door jamb on the cabinet, a pivotable handleassociated with said front face, at least one latch pivotally mounted onthe cabinet and including a substantially hookshaped portion having aninclined surface projecting beyond said jamb, at least a iirst latchaperture in said door and located adjacent said rear face thereof, avertically slidable lock bar mounted adjacent the rear `face of saiddoor and substantially in alignment with said jamb when said door is inits closed and latched position, at least a second latch aperture insaid lock bar normally in alignment with said first latch aperture andcooperating therewith and, with the latter, being adapted to containsaid hook-shaped portion of said latch member when said door is in itsclosed position, and linkage means located adjacent said rear face ofsaid door and connected to said handle and to said lock bar, saidlinkage means being connected to said handle and to said lock bar, whensaid door is in its closed and latched position and when Isaid handle ispivoted, to raise said lock bar whereby the lower connes of said secondlatch aperture engages the underside of said inclined surface of saidlatch and raises the latter to permit said rst latch aperture to bedisengaged from said hook-shaped portion of said latch.

13. In a mechanism according to claim 12, a recess in said front face ofsaid door between the latter and said rear face thereof, said recesscontaining a substantial amount of said handle and including a rearwall, at least a rst arcuate slot in said rear wall, an aperture in saidrear face, a first portion of said handle passing through said rear walland said lrear face and being secured to said linkage means to form apivot point, a second portion of said handle passing through said rstarcuate slot and said aperture and being secured to said linkage meansat a predetermined distance from said pivot point.

14. In a mechanism according to claim 13, a second arcuate slot in saidrear wall and said rear face, said second arcuate slot being greater inlength than said first arcuate slot, coaxial therewith and spacedtherefrom, a lock-bracket located adjacent the upper end of said secondarcuate slot, said lock bracket being located within said recess andprojecting forwardly from said rear wall, said lock bracket having apair of spaced limbs adapted, when said door is in its closed andlatched position, to receive and locate therebetween, one end of saidlinkage means, each said limb and said one end of said linkage meansbeing bored to receive the hasp of a padlock- 15. In a mechanismaccording to claim 13 wherein the vertical plane of the handle isarranged at a slight angle to the rear wall of said recess as well as tothe vertical plane `of the door so that the lower portion of said handleprojects outwardly from the said rear wall and slightly from the frontface of said door.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,629,641 5/27Schlay 292-65 2,109,516 3/ 38 Wasberg 292-254 X 2,147,903 2/39 Kaser292-254 X M. HENSON WOOD, IR., Primary Examiner.

THOMAS J. HICKEY, Examiner.

1. A LATCH MECHANISM FOR A CABINET DOOR HINGED FOR MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM A COOPERATING FIXED DOOR JAMB ON THE CABINET, SAID LATCH MECHANISM COMPRISING A HOOK-SHAPED LATCH PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE CABINET AND INCLUDING A PORTION PROJECTING BEYOND SIAD JAMB AND HAVING AN INCLINED SURFACE, MEANS DEFINING A FIRST APERTURE ON SAID DOOR TO LATCHINGLY ENGAGE SAID LATCH WITH SAID DOOR CLOSED AGAINST SAID JAMB, A LOCK BAR VERTICALLY SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID DOOR, MEANS DEFINING A SECOND APERTURE ON SAID LOCK BAR TO RECEIVE SAID PARTITION OF SAID LATCH WITH SAID DOOR CLOSED AGAINST SAID JAMB, AND ACTUATING MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID DOOR AND CONTROLLING VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF SAID LOCK BAR, SAID ACTUATING MEANS BEING OPERABLE WITH SAID DOOR CLOSED AND LATCHED AGAINST SAID JAMB TO LIFT SAID LOCK BAR, WHEREBY SAID SECOND APERTURE ENGAGES SAID INCLINED SURFACE AND PIVOTS SAID LATCH OUT OF LATCHING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID FIRST APERTURE. 